The Go Between and Spies
“THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN THE GO-BETWEEN AND SPIES ARE SOCIALLY OPRRESSED ARE SOCIALLY OPPRESSSED” How far do you agree with this statement?
Social Oppression is a main theme explored throughout the two tragic novels, The Go-Between and Spies. Throughout the novels, L.P. Hartley and Michael Frayn successfully convey the idea, through the use of their main characters, the effects of social oppression and class divide. Using many techniques they show how class and oppression had power over the people of the Victorian era. And even after the turn of the century, People were still trapped in the shadows of the past era. Both novels are told as flashbacks taking us through the lives of two main protagonists. The climax of both novels lead to the death of two male characters due to oppression. This gives us the idea that men were under greater pressure from social oppression. Considering, Marian and Ted are caught together 'two bodies moving like one ' in the squalid outhouse but yet only Ted takes his life.
Leo, being‘acutely aware of social inferiority’ swings to the extreme opposite as he aspires to be a member of the hall. Leo, ‘a foreigner in the world of emotions’, a character so imaginative and sensitive gets invited into the world of Brandham hall in the summer of 1900. With Marcus thinking he was like them from the sophisticated sound of his home ‘Court Place’. He sees himself as lower class and a mere mortal among gods and goddesses. He characterises the members of the hall as figures of the zodiac. Marian is the ‘virgin of the zodiac’ ‘pure and innocent '. To him she is 'the key to the whole pattern, the climax, the coping-stone, the goddess '. He‘insisted on thinking of them as angels’ no matter what because they ‘belonged to the zodiac’. Leo, aware of the social difference, feels like a ‘misfit’ among ‘these smart rich people’. He is determined to keep his class a secret even though Mrs Maudsley had ‘the ability to fix you like a pinned butterfly with
Social Oppression is a main theme explored throughout the two tragic novels, The Go-Between and Spies. Throughout the novels, L.P. Hartley and Michael Frayn successfully convey the idea, through the use of their main characters, the effects of social oppression and class divide. Using many techniques they show how class and oppression had power over the people of the Victorian era. And even after the turn of the century, People were still trapped in the shadows of the past era. Both novels are told as flashbacks taking us through the lives of two main protagonists. The climax of both novels lead to the death of two male characters due to oppression. This gives us the idea that men were under greater pressure from social oppression. Considering, Marian and Ted are caught together 'two bodies moving like one ' in the squalid outhouse but yet only Ted takes his life.
Leo, being‘acutely aware of social inferiority’ swings to the extreme opposite as he aspires to be a member of the hall. Leo, ‘a foreigner in the world of emotions’, a character so imaginative and sensitive gets invited into the world of Brandham hall in the summer of 1900. With Marcus thinking he was like them from the sophisticated sound of his home ‘Court Place’. He sees himself as lower class and a mere mortal among gods and goddesses. He characterises the members of the hall as figures of the zodiac. Marian is the ‘virgin of the zodiac’ ‘pure and innocent '. To him she is 'the key to the whole pattern, the climax, the coping-stone, the goddess '. He‘insisted on thinking of them as angels’ no matter what because they ‘belonged to the zodiac’. Leo, aware of the social difference, feels like a ‘misfit’ among ‘these smart rich people’. He is determined to keep his class a secret even though Mrs Maudsley had ‘the ability to fix you like a pinned butterfly with